Turkey will launch a new operation against US-backed Kurdish militias in northern Syria “in the next few days”, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says.
The move, which he said would focus on territory to the east of the Euphrates river, risks confrontation with the US.
America’s support for the Kurdish YPG forces has strained relations with Turkey, which considers the YPG to be part of a terrorist group.
Turkey has launched two offensives against the Kurds in Syria since 2016.
The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) currently controls large swathes of the north-east of Syria on Turkey’s southern border.
“We will start the operation to clear the east of the Euphrates from separatist terrorists in a few days,” Mr Erdogan said on a televised speech on Wednesday, referring to territory held by the YPG.
He did not specify which areas would be targeted, but it would be the first time Turkish troops have moved east of the river.
“Our target is never US soldiers,” he added. There are some 2,000 US troops currently in Syria, many of them stationed in the north.
Turkey considers the YPG an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought for Kurdish autonomy in south-eastern Turkey for three decades.
Mr Erdogan wants to prevent the Kurds from consolidating their hold on Syrian territory and forming an autonomous region on the border.
